Why Allan missed Palmeiras' starting XI in derby vs Santos | OneFootball

Palmeiras defeated Santos 2-0 last Thursday at Allianz Parque, in the 32nd round of the Brazilian Championship. Part of the fans were hoping to see the youngster Allan start again, especially after his great performance against LDU in the Libertadores semifinal.

However, that’s not what happened. Coach Abel Ferreira started Mauricio on the right wing and Allan began on the bench, even after being rested for the match against Juventude over the weekend. The coach then explained his decision.

“Allan was completely exhausted. Fortunately, in the last game he didn’t get injured, but he had to stay out for three days, didn’t even train. We didn’t even take him for the Juventude match. I have some difficulty, except for rare cases, in putting injured players directly into the starting lineup. Gómez is a special case, he’s our Robocop. Allan was coming off an injury,” Abel justified.

Allan’s performance against LDU left a mark in the imagination of Palmeiras fans. The youngster provided the assist for Sosa to open the scoring and start the heroic comeback. Later, in the second half, he won the penalty for the fourth goal, which was converted by Raphael Veiga.

Against Santos, the youngster came on in the second half and also created dangerous situations for Verdão. With a shot from outside the box, he forced Brazão to make a great save. Then, in the final minutes, he hit the left post with a placed shot, almost increasing the home team’s lead.

Abel even went on to praise the Academy graduate again and joked, saying not to talk too much about him, hinting that he wants the youngster to stay at Palmeiras for a long time.

“He’s a player who has been developed over this time, last year, this year as well. He started very well against LDU. Today he came on with the game more open, and his characteristics stand out even more: progression, dribbling, speed. But don’t talk too much about him… it’s not worth talking too much about him, because we’ve already sold players and that’s enough [laughs],” joked the coach.

Allan’s numbers this season

Standings

With this result, Palmeiras not only remained at the top of the Brasileirão, but also opened up a three-point lead over Flamengo, the competition’s runner-up. Verdão reached 68 points, while the team from Rio has 65. The Alviverde also achieved their third consecutive win across all competitions.

Upcoming Palmeiras matches

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.